The approaching Fall and Winter seasons are full of events completely unrelated to your wedding. Thanksgiving, Christmas (or maybe you celebrate Hanukkah or Ramadan), Kwanzaa, and Halloween (as I try hard not to make an asinine comment about witches, ghouls, and in-laws…) are all approaching. These are times when we share, laugh, and come together.
As I grow older, the significance of spending time with my family becomes much clearer. My parents, who live in Canada, are not getting younger and I don’t get to see them anywhere near as often as I would like. I don’t get to see my sister, who is also in Canada, as much either. Of course, with email and phones, we keep in touch on a regular basis but, as anyone who has family far away can tell you, it’s not the same.
Growing up, my Mom and Dad would host a family Christmas party for all the extended family in the city. Every year, we would see cousins, aunts and uncles that we hadn’t seen since the last year’s party and probably wouldn’t see until the next one. We all got along and there was no reason why we only saw each other once a year, but it was special to us that we did get to see one another at least once a year.
The point is this - yes, these holidays will cut into your time for wedding planning but that’s okay. Spend some extra planning time right now so that you don’t have to cut your holidays short. When you marry, you meld two existing families together while, at the same time, creating a brand new family for yourself. Getting into the habit of being with your family will help your marriage in the long run and is a great lesson to teach your children as they grow up.
Wow - that sounded a lot more ‘preachy’ than I meant! Basically, as you continue to prepare for building your new family, do so by spending time with the existing family during the upcoming holidays.
Peace
